Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

make much difference to the power. It iust mad e it hard to concentrate after a while." Light snow was falling in the pits as Davis completed his first 35-m ile loop in iust ove r an hou r and headed in for gas. Zitter kopf w as jus t 48 seconds behind him, making life frantic for the Kawasaki Team Green pit crew, and the action con t in ue d wh en KX500 racer Pau l Krause hit th e Kawa sa ki p it in th ird overa ll, jus t a minute behind Zitter kop f. im Gr ay' s KTM headed d ow n pit row in fou rth overall. "I mi ssed a comer early in the race and Krau se pa ssed me," Gray said. "I follo wed him m ost of th e loop a n d I cou ld still see him in s!i'0 ts, but my arms pumped up and I just couldn't hang on. t w as just s u r viva l m ode until th ey loosened up again." Open Expert Robert -Laughlin w as fifth overall as he entered pit ro w, just ahead of K'I'MvmountedVet Ed Sorenson, a n d De st ry Abb ott h e ad ed the 250cc Expert contenders in seventh, ahea d of Fou r-Stroke lead er Johnny Campb ell a n d KX250 r a cer s Brian Brown and Steve Hengeveld . "There w as a reall y fast sec tion for probably the first 50 miles," said Cam pbell. " I co u ld've u se d m y 628, but I opted to use the stock engine for a little easier rid e th rough the trees. It was a benefit in the tight spo ts - I cou ld keep up wi th the 250s." Cam pbell's stock engine conti nued to be a benefit as the ter rain tightened even mor e in loop two but it w as go ing to tak e mor e than a stock en gin e to he lp KTM 360-mo u nted Lau gh lin mak e up time. "Thi s is the first Na tional I've done ou t of m y h om e te rritory in Southern California and I wasn't ready for all this twi sting and turning," Lau ghlin sa id, who co m p o u n d e d hi s problems b y crashing right off the start. "I'v e never raced in the mountains and th e trees fore and I was getting really tired trying to keep the thing on two wheels." Da v is' s Hare Scramb les prowess gave him all the tight-terrain experience he needed and that, coupled with the Sage Riders M.C.' s course markings, had him maki ng time left and right as the 22-mi le second loop pro gressed . "The cou rse was su per-we ll-m arked . It meant I could relax and didn't really have to pay attention, " Da vis said. " It was so tight it definitely w asn 't a 500 course, but I jus t had so much fun try ing to be s moo th . I d id n' t h a v e to r id e aggressively." "The cou rse was too we ll-ma rke d," complaine d Over-40 Expert Steve Pitts. "I'm used to pickin g up pl aces wh en a few people get lost, but nobody got lost here." • Zitte rko pf continued to enjoy a trouble-free ride in second, but th ings w ere wi ndi ng d o wn fa st for th ird -pl ac ed Kra use. They came to a su d den s top near loop two's 14-mile mark. "I think I lost th e lower end ," sa id Krause. Faced with a long wait before help arrived, the Kaw asaki racer built a small fire to ward off the cold. " It wasn't burning very w ell , so I took a bu nch of grass and went to stuff it up under the bottom of the fire to get it going," Krause expl ain ed : "I must've got some gas on my gloves when I was starting the fire because one of th em caught fire. I tried to pa t it out with the other one and that caught fire, too. I had to dive on the ground and stuff them in the dirt to put it ou t." Krause's misfortune put Gray into thir d . Beh in d h im, Campbell , Ab bo tt and Brown were locked in a fierce battle for fourth. "We we re dicin g it ou t the who le race. We were going back and forth . I love th at kin d of racing," Abbott said . An equally fierce tuss le for second in the Fou r-Stroke division wa s going on not far be h ind them as Honda's Jeff Cap t struggled to hold off a de termined charge by ATK's Paul Pitts. . "Pitts was right there the wh ole way. I wa s w orking h ard, th at' s for su re ," Capt said. As the second loo p drew to a close, Da vi s su d de nly h ad to sta rt w orking hard, too. . " Tow a r d s th e end of loop two, I s moked the bra kes. Abo u t five m iles from th e en d, it was reall y bad . I h ad nothing left at all," Davis said. "I think th e peda l d idn't h a ve enough pl a y . Th e re h ad to b e so meth ing wro ng becau se I never smoke brakes on a 500." Davis was pointing down at his rear . wh eel when he came into the pits for the second tim e. The rea r-pa d change w as co m pleted in one minute an d I I seconds, but that cut an almost two-minute lead over Zitterkopf do wn to a mere 25 secon ds as the KX500 hotsh ots rac ed into the final 38-mile section. " I kn ew Zitterkopf wa s th er e and, after we did the brakes, I put the hammer down," Dav is said. "I was pushing all the way through the third loop." Zitterkopf's broken silen cer turned heads as he thundered out in pursuit of Da vis. Gra y mad e a qu ieter exit three and a half minutes back in third, ahead of Campbell, Abbott and Brown, wh o were still just a few bike lengths apart. Laughlin was seventh overall when he arrived in pi t row but, in a repeat of his first-loop pit performance, he was a couple of places back by the tim e he headed out into the next loop . (Top) James Gray had one of t his best rides of his career, fi nishing third overall. (Above) Local ri der Brian Brown rounded out the top five overall. "I have a conven tional filler cap on my bike and everyon e else has quick fills," Laug hlin said . "I hu ng with them ou t on th e cou rse but they go t away every time we pitted ." Eigh th overall was in th e h ands of Donn ie Book (KX500), Hengeve ld was runnin g third 250 Expe rt in ninth, and Vet Exp ert John Rudder, Four-Stroke Sia mese tw in s Ca p t a nd Pitts, Mark Lundg reen, and Abe Bauman n w ere tu cked in behind. "By th en, I w as just cruising," sai d Baumann, who h ad tw is ted hi s kn ee ba dly headin g into loop tw o . " It w as right ou t of the pits - perfect traction on a r e all y n ic e roa d a n d m y foo tpeg dragged on a comer. It took a long tim e to ge t my com posure back an d th en, going out on the last loop in exactly the same place I did it again, o nly this time I tw ist ed my ankle an d my knee and it hurt wo rse. Th e ra ce was pretty much over for me." Zitterkop f launched a late-in-the-race charge tha t he hoped wou ld close th e gap on Davis, but the muddy tra il, cou p led with fat ig u e from a lmost three h ours o f dodging trees and pounding through rocks , soon had h im rethinking his strategy. _ "I fell three tim es on the last loop. I though t I wa s going to push a little bit . but I kept sliding out in the mud so I just decided to cool it and be happy taking second," Zitterkopf said. It took a long time for anybody to call it qu its in the three-way battle for fourth that raged right behind th ird-p laced Gray. "I th ought I had fourth locked up but, going out on the last loop, I sta rted clogging a filter;" said Campbell, wh o w as battling Abbott an d Brown. "I wen t back and forth with Abbott for most of the loop but, finally, I had to let him go. There w as only a litt le bit of dust here an d there today, but it mad e a big d ifference to my bike." The Capt / Pitts ba ttle d lasted jus t as long. The p air w ere still go ing strong right up until the las t few mil es, wh en Pitts lost tim e tryin g to unfog his gog gles. But there was no stopping Davis. At the end of two hou rs and 50 minutes of racing , the Kawa sak i Te am Gr e en / Moose Ra cin g-b a cked ra cer storme d hom e with an average speed "of 32.5 mph and a margin of jus t under two and a hal f m inutes to take his secon d overall win in the three-race-old series, Zitterkopf topped th e Vet di v ision with his second- place finish. Gray b rou gh t h is KTM ho me in third, after turning on the throttl e late in th e ra ce wh en h e lo oked b ack and cau gh t a glim pse of Abbott. "I never really saw any body all day excep t Abb ott right a t th e en d, " sa id Gray, wh o took second Open Expert. "I started getting lackad aisical, then I saw h im behi nd me, so I p i cked it u p toward s the end ." Abbo tt crossed th e li ne in fo urth overall to take the 250 Expert win, just ahead of KX250 racer Brian Brown. Brown took seco nd 250 Exp ert, just ahea d of Ca m pbe ll, w ho was hap p y with sixth ove rall because it put him at the head of the Four- Stroke Exper t field . "All in all I had a really good ride. I got a little tired toward s the end . I need to wo rk out a bit more," Campbell said, "but I finally finish ed in front of Capt." Book sco re d third 250 in seven th overa ll ahead of Open Exp ert Robert Lau gh lin and KX250 r a cer Ste ve Hengeveld. "I had a little problem in the second . loop . I blew a comer and high-centered in some sage brush and got stuck. Donnie Book go t by' me there and grabbed third 250," Hengev eld said. "It's still the . best finish I've had at this race." John Rudd er ' s 10th overa ll earned the YZ250 ra cer second in the Vet class, ahe ad of Four-Stroke Expert Jeff Capt, Mark Lundgre en and Paul Pitts. Rex Sta ten finished 20th ov e ra ll to to p the O ver-40 Expert class despite cras hing fou r tim es, and Craig McCaffrey too k Amateur-class honors in 50th overall . f:-; Shawn Gerber Memo rial Jericho, Utah Results: April 16, 1996 (Round 3 of 7) O/A: 1. Ty Dav is (Kaw); 2. Greg Zitterkopf (Kaw); 3. Jim Gray (KTM) ; 4. De s try Ab bott (KTM ); 5. Bria n Bro wn (Kaw ); 6. Johnny Cam pbe ll (Han); 7. Donni e Boo k (KT M); 8 . Ro be r t Laughlin (K TM); 9 . Steve Hengeveld (Kaw) ; 10. John Rudder (Yam ); 11. Jeff Cap t (Hon): l ~ Mark Lu ndgreen (Kaw); 13. Paul Pitts (ATK); 14. Jimmy Lewis (ATK); 15. Abe Baum ann {Kaw ): 16. Ed So rens on (KTM ); 17. Aaron Sy ke s; 18. Tom my Ad y (Kaw ); 19. Brad Chri stensen; 20. Rex Staten (Kaw ); 21. Terry Ky le; 22 . Shaw n Ch a ve z (Su z ); 23 . Aron Huntingt on (Kaw): 24. To m Webb (Kaw) ; 25. Russell Pearson (KTM) . OP EN EX: I. Tv Davis (Kaw); 2. Jim Gray (KTM); 3. Robert Laugh lin (K'IM). 250 EX: 1. Destry Abb ott (KTM ); 2. Brian Brown (Ka w ); 3. Donnie Book (Kaw ). 4·STK EX: 1. Johnny Campbell (Hon); 2. Jeff Capt (Hon); 3. Pa ul Pttts(ATK). 0 /30 EX: I. Greg Zitterk op f (Kaw ); ~ John Rudde r (Yam ); 3. Abe Baumann (Kaw). 0 /40 EX: 1. Rex Staten (Ka w); 2. Terry Kyle; 3. Bill Maxim (Kaw). AMA NATIONAL HA RE &: H O UN O CHAMP IONSHI P SERIES P O INT STANDINGS (After 3 of 7 rounds): 1. Greg Zitter kopf ,(69/1 win); 2. Ty Davis (60 / 2 wins); 3. Destry Abbott (54); 4. Pa u l Krause (SO); S. John Cam pbell (42). Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Red Mountains, CA. April 2B Round 5 - Yerington, NV. September 19

• Cover